Elucidate
by Hanz Gewher
Summary: Evan is a powerful Warlock, who seeks only knowledge. Forbidden knowledge. Eldritch even, if you believe in that. Evan becomes consumed by his research, and becomes a different man...in a shell of hollow metal. Rated M for scenes of cruelty, depictions of death, brutality and sexual scenes.
1. Chapter 1: God and Death

Evan placed his gloved, metallic hands on the railing, the wind blowing over the sleek surface of his metallic skin. The sun peeked over the mountain tops, sunrise just upon him. He gazed out, and the nothingness gazed back. He got his Ghost, Johann, to pull up a map of the Hive ritual ground that he had been monitoring, alongside his notes on Hive symbol translations. If his notes were correct, then the layout of the entire tunnel system spelt out the Hive symbol for 'stolen'. He turned and walked back to his quarters, closing the balcony door behind him. He walked to a large blank metal wall, with a Hive symbol meaning 'Shadows' on it. The wall split in two and the two halves slid to the sides, showing four distinct weapons. The Necrochasm, the Thorn, the Touch of Malice and the newly-discovered Malfeasance hand-cannon, all of which gave off an ominous feeling, driving a chill up his oiled, artificial spine. He reached out and grabbed the Malfeasance and holstered it. The wall closed and he turned back to his Ghost, who was projecting the grounds' layout and his notes. There was a central, locked chamber that was surrounded by dozens of Thralls and Acolytes, as well as three Chosen Knights. He had recently unlocked a new branch in his Voidwalker arsenal which allowed him to teleport around the battlefield and create mini nova bomb detonations with his hands, so he would probably make short work of all of them. He got Johann to prepare his ship and left his quarters.

The cave was narrow and eerily quiet, the black dust of a couple dead Thralls covering the ground with a light dusting. Getting into the chamber had been easier than expected, all he had to do was use a Handheld Supernova to blast the door open and use the Malfeasance to get rid of the Hive that challenged him. He reloaded the hand-cannon and holstered it, stepping into the cold black waters of what looked like a large hall. A single pedestal stood in the center of the hall, an object wrapped in black cloth on top of it. The object was long and narrow, approximately his height. He reached out his hand to grab the object and the wrappings seemed to burn away in purple cinders. What lay in front of him, centimetres away from his outstretched hand, was a large Hive spear that was humming with power. He wrapped his hand around the shaft-


	2. Chapter 2: The Shadow

-and suddenly he felt everything in much more detail. He could hear Johann gasp in surprise, and he could feel the cold air entering his lungs. His lungs? He tore off the glove of his right hand and instead of seeing the white and black mechanical hand, he saw a human hand, with pale skin and a brand on the back of it. The brand read 'Stolen' in the Hive dialect. He removed his helmet and spun it around, using the tainted glass visor as a mirror. He saw a young man in his twenties, with light blonde hair and blue eyes. One could even say he was handsome, were it not for the lime green markings that formed the shape of an eye in his forehead.

Shin Mal Phur stalked through the tunnel system, ready to draw his Golden Gun, but there was no need. All the Hive here were already dead. He had hunted a powerful Shadow of Yor to this ritual ground. The guardian, an Exo who called himself Evan, had taken the Touch of Malice, and he most likely had the other Dark weapons. He came upon a large door which had been blown open with a powerful Void blast, there was practically nothing left of the door except purple cinders and purplish smoke. A guardian stood inside, a guardian who wore the same attire as his target except he wasn't an Exo, he was human. A cruel-looking spear lay on a pedestal in front of him. The guardian seemed to notice Shin, as he spun around and saw him when he tried to get closer. The guardian rested his arms behind his back and the green markings on his forehead glowed a sickly green light, and the spear started floating. Pure Arc energy seemed to run along it's surface, electricity running through the spearhead. The guardian spoke.

"Do you know what Oppenheimer said when he created the atomic bomb?"


	3. Chapter 3: Oppenheimer's Legacy

Shin stayed silent, confused, as the guardian continued.

"He said,'Now I have become Death, destroyer of worlds.' I guess we all thought that, one way or another."

The guardian looked at him slyly, before the spear started floating and suddenly flew toward Shin. Shin drew his Golden Gun and prepared to fire, but a mysterious Ghost appeared in front of him and took the hit. It exploded in a fantastic burst of Light and Shin was pushed back a few feet. When he looked back up at the guardian, who was now standing on the flat side of the spearhead as it floated midair. He started his monologue again.

"A great master once observed. 'There are two methods of becoming God: the upright and the adverse. The mind must be a flame or a pool of still water.' Unfortunately, he was a fool. The only way to become God is to usurp him."

Shin fired his Golden Gun, but the spear flashed in front of the guardian and created an invisible barrier of Void energy, which shattered the Golden Gun shot. The spear spun it's head towards Shin and darted forward. Shin dodged just fast enough to dodge the full force of the strike, but still caught a sizable cut in his side. He sprinted away, his strength gradually leaving him until he was slowly limping while propped up against a wall, leaving an ugly blood trail behind. The guardian seemed to have forgotten him. All he needed to do was get back to his ship and-


	4. Chapter 4: Annihilation

Evan looked down upon the city. He saw the people not as people, but as insects, beings that can be crushed to fulfil a better purpose. He threw the spear, Harbinger, full-force into the Old Town sector of the City, leaving a purple energy trail behind him. It struck the ground and erupted into a dazzling burst of purple energy. A second later and Old Town was gone, and the surrounding sectors were being flattened by the shockwave. He turned to the Tower and flew towards it, Harbinger appearing beside him, having flew back to him. When he got to the Tower, it was chaos. There were Guardians and people running to and fro, rushing to escape or to get to their posts. Suraya Hawthorne stood on a ledge, watching over the chaotic scene. He dropped down behind her, drawing Malfeasance. He thumbed the hammer back and she must have heard the click, because she crouched down and rolled into cover before he could take a shot. He cursed underneath his breath and threw down a Healing Rift for protection. Hawthorne peeked out from her cover behind the wall but before she could do anything she caught a bullet in the abdomen. Evan walked towards her as she lay on the ground trying to stop the bleeding. He placed his foot over the bullet wound and pressed down, causing her to scream out in agony. He asked her a simple question.

"Where are the Vanguard?"

Hawthorne stayed silent as blood ran from her mouth.

"Very well."

He pressed the barrel of Malfeasance against her head and put a bullet in her skull. He holstered the gun and continued on. He found the remaining Vanguard, Ikora and Zavala, in the new Hall of Guardians. He shot Zavala in the head instantly and shot his Ghost when it appeared to revive him. He shot Ikora's Ghost but held back on the last trigger pull to propose an offer.

"Come, Ikora. Join me. Join us. You're all doomed one way or another."

Ikora looked disgusted.

"I will never abandon the Light, never abandon the Traveler. I will never join the Darkness."

Evan simply smiled.

"I'm not with the Darkness. Both it and the Light are doomed. I simply intend to become God."

He pulled the trigger and Ikora's head blew apart.


	5. Chapter 5: When Man Becomes God

As Evan walked through the destroyed streets of a now-unrecognizable City sector, he sang while he watched the few survivors run through the streets.

"'I see a little silhouetto of a man

Scaramouch, scaramouch will you do the fandango

Thunderbolt and lightning very very frightening me

Gallileo, Gallileo,

Gallileo, Gallileo,

Gallileo Figaro - magnifico'"

He tapped his foot along with the rhythm.

"'But I'm just a poor boy and nobody loves me

He's just a poor boy from a poor family

Spare him his life from this monstrosity

Easy come easy go will you let me go

Bismillah! No we will not let you go - let him go

Bismillah! We will not let you go - let him go

Bismillah! We will not let you go let me go

Will not let you go let me go (never)

Never let you go let me go

Never let me go ooo

No, no, no, no, no, no, no

Oh mama mia, mama mia, mama mia let me go

Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me

For me

For me'"

He stopped singing when a stone hit the side of his head. He turned to see a group of children with stones in hand and hatred in their eyes. They ran at him with a war cry, but he simply impaled the first one with Harbinger and the rest stopped. Blood streamed from his nose and mouth and stained his dirty shirt. The spear started to spin until it rotated fast enough to punch through the bones and cartilage, leaving a large, circular hole in his chest. The remaining children were frozen in place and Harbinger swung in a wide arc, cutting through all of them like a hot knife through butter. As blood, entrails and limbs flew through the air, Evan reached out and grabbed Harbinger, blood covering the ancient Hive spear. He channeled Solar energy into it, small flames beginning to lick the blade. He pulled his arm back and flung the spear through the sky. It landed in the Financial sector, sending it up in flames. As the blazing inferno continued, Harbinger flew back to his hand. Now he channeled Arc energy into it and flung it at a nearby mountain. It blew a hole in the mountain and continued on, the spear breaking the sound barrier and visibly pushing air out of the way. It punched a hole in the clouds before Evan got it to circle back and return to him. But just as he grabbed the spear again, he was surrounded by Guardians. They all pointed their weapons at him, bows drawn, guns cocked, hammers thumbed. He channeled Void into the spear and stabbed it into the ground, and for a few moments it was nothing but blinding light. When the light cleared and he could see his surroundings, he saw that he had eradicated everything in sight, leaving only charred earth and purple embers. He looked up and saw that a large portion of the clouds above him had been cleared away by the explosion, leaving peaceful clear sky, a far cry from the hell scape of the place once called the Last City. He started clapping with a condescending smile on his face. He started giggling and eventually started laughing, the sound of it ringing out across the charred landscape. He placed his hand on his face, fingers scraping his forehead and temples to make him focus, but he still had a wide smile plastered on his face, which was inappropriately goofy.

A/N: Well, that's two days of writing split into 5 chapters. I need coffee. Anywho, please review and tell me what you liked and didn't like, so that I may become a better writer. Tschüss!


	6. Chapter 6: Erika!

He started tapping his foot again in a simple rhythm before mock-marching, singing a marching song.

"'Auf der Heide blüht ein kleines Blümelein

und das heißt: Erika!'"

He continued on like this for a while singing 'Erika' and marching dramatically yet aimlessly.

"'Heiß von hunderttausend kleinen Bienelein

wird umschwärmt Erika

denn ihr Herz ist voller Süßigkeit,

zarter Duft entströmt dem Blütenkleid.

Auf der Heide blüht ein kleines Blümelein

und das heißt: Erika.

In der Heimat wohnt ein kleines Mägdelein

und das heißt: Erika.

Dieses Mädel ist mein treues Schätzelein

und mein Glück, Erika.

Wenn das Heidekraut rot-lila blüht,

singe ich zum Gruß ihr dieses Lied.

Auf der Heide blüht ein kleines Blümelein

und das heißt: Erika.

In mein'm Kämmerlein blüht auch ein Blümelein

und das heißt: Erika.

Schon beim Morgengrau'n sowie beim Dämmerschein

schaut's mich an, Erika.

Und dann ist es mir, als spräch' es laut:

"Denkst du auch an deine kleine Braut?"

In der Heimat weint um dich ein Mägdelein

und das heißt: Erika!'"


	7. Chapter 7: Red Rose, Black Thorn

Shin woke. He tried to move but a sharp pain sent a shock through his body and he lay down in a split second, the pain stopping him from moving anything but his head. He tried to relax and examined his surroundings. The room was dark, but it seemed and smelled clean more than anything. He heard footsteps and looked to his left to see the door opening and a woman walking in. Shin started talking immediately.

"Where am I? What is this place? Who are you?"

Shin was formulating more and more questions before the woman held up a hand to silence him.

"Don't strain yourself. That's a nasty wound you got there. You lost your entire kidney on that side so I had to transplant a synthetic one."

Shin managed to prop himself up on one elbow to get a better look at the woman. She was an Awoken, and a Guardian as well, which was obvious from the silver Ghost hovering above her shoulder. She seemed to be a Warlock, with black and green robes. The grip of a hand-cannon could be seen on the back of her belt, but the exact make was unclear.

"I'm Heather. I'm a bit of an explorer, which was how I found you while I was going through some old Hive system."

The events with the Shadow of Yor played through Shin's mind as he processed this.

"What about that other Guardian, with the spear?!"

Heather looked at him quizzically.

"Do you mean Evan?"

"You know him?"

"Of course I do. I used to be a disciple of Ikora, like him. Oh, and he wiped out half of the City as well."

Shin brain struggled to comprehend this.

"H-he did what?"

Heather pulled up a screen from a hologram projection by her Ghost and spun it around to show him. He saw the City, and a few seconds later it was gone. Just… gone. In an instant. Heather turned around to get something from a nearby medical pouch and he saw her hand-cannon in it's entirety. It was a Thorn replica. Which meant she was a Shadow as well.

"Get away from me, you witch! I'll wring your neck!"

Heather turned back to him with syringe filled with a clear liquid and an unimpressed look on her face.

"You need to calm down. Right now."

She held him down and injected the clear liquid into his wrist, and suddenly he felt a numbing of the body.


	8. Chapter 8: Ascendancy Is A Falsity

Evan sat back into his seat in his ship and relaxed as the autopilot swerved his ship around the asteroids in the belt. He was here to settle an old grudge with a Hunter he knew from his first days as a Guardian. One of his main shticks was agreeing with that old fool, Osiris. Ah well, none of that would matter once he became God. His ship landed behind a small hill on a planetoid, which, from this angle, blotted out the cold small sun that barely reached the asteroid belt. He left his ship and started up the hill, when a certain sense told him to look back. As he turned his head a bullet whizzed past him, exactly where his head had been. He materialised the Harbinger and created an energy barrier in front of him just in time to split a second bullet into dozens of fragments. He caught sight of a scope glint and sent the Harbinger racing to the rough area of the glint, creating an Arc strike which blew the hill that the sniper was shooting from apart. Evan jumped up and landed on the spear, and he flew on it to where the hill had once been. He dropped down and lightly searched the area, using Harbinger as a makeshift staff. He heard a click behind him, but couldn't turn around fast enough to avoid taking a point blank sniper bullet to the head.

Evan woke to chilling winds and dark sands. He stood up and saw darkness all around him. He noticed that he was naked, but he didn't care. He looked around his Ascendant Realm…… And found himself immensely bored with the thing. He concentrated and giant, dark towers sprouted from the ground. He created clothes for himself, a dark set of robes with engraved gauntlets and boots. He created a sort of scabbard for Harbinger, as well as a holster for his other weapons. He concentrated once again and the Thorn, the Touch of Malice, Malfeasance and the Necrochasm appeared on pedestals in the center of the Realm. He picked up the Thorn, inspecting the cruel, spiked surface. It almost hummed with power. He holstered it and opened a portal out of the Realm. This was going to be more difficult than he thought.


	9. Chapter 9: An Olive Tree and A Spider

Olivia regarded the hand-cannon that lay on the railing in front of her. It was painted dark green, and had a narrow, sleek barrel. The words 'Always watch ten paces behind' were carved into the grip by a long lost owner. She grabbed the hand-cannon and placed it in her right waist holster, her left one already filled by the Better Devils hand-cannon. She strode through the inner hallways of the Tower, before going up a flight of stairs and coming upon the main courtyard, which now held the purple candles of the Festival of the Lost. Her Ghost, Morgan, appeared beside her and projected a hologram of the Spider, with whom she had made a number of deals. She had become a sort of bounty hunter for him, enforcing his 'law' whenever need be.

"Your next target is Roxis, a rogue who has stolen quite a lot from me in the past. I don't want you to kill him just yet. I'm sending you coordinates as we speak. They're of a compound owned by Roxis. Send him a message."

And sure enough, coordinates were projected in the Spider's place when he finished. And so she went. And she sent a message. A very bloody message.

The two ships flew slowly, just above the clouds. Olivia sat in her cockpit, fidgeting nervously while the other Guardian, Jack, a Hunter like herself sat calmly, almost bored. Whenever she requested landing permissions, there was no answer. In fact, on every channel, there was no answer.

"Screw it. We gotta go down and see what's wrong."

Jack mumbled under his breath as Olivia flew down through the clouds. He heard her gasp over the comms and he flew down to see what was the matter. And what he saw took a while to process. The City was in ruins. Half of it was completely gone and the rest of it was smoldering. The Tower had a huge hole in it, and Arc energy seemed to move about inside it. The Traveler still floated there, indifferent to their squabbles, just waiting for the Darkness to come. Olivia didn't think that, she still thought it was her saviour, but seeing the City like this heavily damaged her faith. Jack, however, had known this for a long, long time. And it was no surprise to him that something had come and wiped half of the human race off of the earth. No surprise at all.


	10. Chapter 10: A Heather Brush With A Thorn

Shin woke once again, tied to a chair and with a throbbing headache. Heather sat in front of him, her Thorn replica held in her relaxed hand. Shin started struggling against his bonds, but Heather held up her hand and spoke.

"I'm here to help, alright. You might find it hard to believe, but I'm on your side."

Shin stayed silent as she continued.

"Evan is going too far with this. He wants to destroy the Light and the Darkness. Which isn't good news. Now I'm going to cut your bonds and trust that you won't try to kill me."

Shin stared at her as she cut his plasteel bonds. He was able to examine her features now that she was much closer. She had dark brown shoulder-length hair, green eyes, full lips with light pink lipstick on them, and a small scar on her lip. She looked at him, catching him off guard.

"Alright, you're free to go. But personally I think we should work together."

Shin caressed his raw wrists through his armor. He glanced at Heather, who was now mindlessly thumbing the hammer of her Thorn replica. He considered the offer. On the one hand, she was a Shadow of Yor. She was evil. But on the other hand, she seemed to know a bit more about Evan, which is what he needed.

"Oh by the way, your weapons are in the next room."

Heather jabbed a thumb over her shoulder at a door behind her. Shin got up and opened the door, seeing his weapons laid out on a table. He picked up the Last Word and holstered it. He regarded the rest of the weapons, but only picked up his knives. He turned back to find Heather spinning her Thorn replica. She caught the gun by the spiked barrel and looked at Shin.

"Where to?"

Heather spun the hand-cannon and holstered it with a smile.

"First, we need to meet an old friend of mine. Are you done packing? 'Cause we're going to Mars."


	11. Chapter 11: Cold Dead Hands

Heather's ship flew over the old Braytech building and transmatted the two of them onto the frozen surface. Heather walked casually into the building and towards a massive glass wall, where a woman with black hair and white markings on her face stood. Shin followed close behind, hand hanging loosely near his Last Word, ready to draw at any moment. Heather exchanged a quick hug with the woman, with whom she was familiar with. The woman turned to Shin and introduced herself.

"Hey, I'm Ana Bray. I stand for Rasputin, no matter how much Zavala hates him."

Heather's expression turned grim and she told Ana the bad news.

"Um… Ana? I'm sorry that you have to hear this from me, but… Zavala is dead. So is Ikora. In fact, a whole lot of Guardians are dead. For good."

Ana smiled briefly, obviously taking it as a joke, but when she saw Heather's and Shin's expressions, she understood. She seemed to be unsteady for a second, stumbling a little bit, but then she regained her composure.

"H-how? Who?"

Heather told her that Evan was to blame, and Ana seemed to break when she heard that.

"That's not true. It can't be."

Heather stayed silent. So did Shin. Ana spent an unknown amount of time processing this. But Heather didn't have the patience for that.

"Alright, get up. We don't have time to be moping around."

Ana stood up abruptly, fear in her eyes.

"Are you going to kill him?"

Heather didn't answer. But Shin did.

"I will. He's too dangerous to be kept alive."

Shin tried to be confident when he spoke. Thing is, he really didn't think he could take Evan on. At least not in a one versus one. He just hoped that he could stop this.


	12. Ego Venator Monstrorum, Deus

_Evan stood by the railing in the Tower plaza, staring at Jack as he, oblivious to those around him, carved uniform words onto the barrel of the Ace of Spades. Evan turned his gaze to the view of the City ahead of him, his mind drifting to his days with Cayde, days spent drinking, betting on Crucible matches and playing poker, albeit Evan enjoyed his chess games with Zavala a little bit more. He remembered the conversations they had in the bar, discussing whatever experiences they remembered from their old lives. Like how Cayde reminisced about his son Ace, and his debts, or how Evan spoke about his brother, who he vaguely remembered not being around near Evan's death. And then his mind rushed to the sight of Jack pressing the barrel of the Ace of Spades against Uldren Sov's temple, and pulling the trigger. He broke from his thoughts and stared out at the City once more. He distinctly noticed how he couldn't feel the chill of the air, and yet he could feel the cold of his metallic skin, and his titanium organs. He tried to shudder, but couldn't. He tried to remember himself, but could only find his ghost. And once again he found that his shell of a body was haunted. He looked to Jack once more, and saw that he had finished carving the words onto the barrel. They read,'Ego venator monstrorum. Timeant me.'_ _'I am the Hunter of Monsters. Fear me.'_


End file.
